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560mg Plane - Unoffical Record Holder

During the time when I was really into building these small planes ('06 - '10) there was a little unofficial competition of sorts going on between the 5 or so people in the world that were building planes this light. Contrary to what one might think, building a small plane isn't as hard as building a light plane. So, there was always a little friendly competition to see who could build a lighter plane. This plane, for about 3 months back in November of '07, had that record.

The wing span on this plane was 2.75", the chord 7/8", and the length was about 3.25". The air frame is all balsa with OS film covering. Flight times were about 4 minutes per charge. The controls were done through an infrared receiver which controlled the throttle and rudder.

Planes this light become a lesson in frustration. For example, all the "large" components of the receiver (microprocessor, IR detector) were sanded down to the copper die to reduce weight. The 3.2mm diameter brushed motor was completely disassembled and rebuild without the steel can to save even more weight (and thus killing motor efficiency). Propeller design becomes very critical at this point because there isn't a lot of motor power to work with at this point.

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